This blog is about family, including those in my family tree, the primary focus, but also the family of faith, the family of community, and ultimately the family of man. It is a journey of discovery: Who they were, What they did (and Why), and When, Where, and How they lived.

Cyanide device explodes, killing family’s dog. They can’t believe who planted it behind their home.
Part of the job of the federal government is to protect landowners, farmers and people in general from dangerous animals that may threaten livestock or even attack humans. How the government protects Americans from these animals has been called into question after a family dog in Pocatello, Idaho, was killed by an M-44, a spring-activated device that releases cyanide when it’s pressed or pulled upward. The U.S. Department of Agriculture employs the M-44s for coyote control.

HARRISON HIT HARD BY FLOODING
With the Coeur d’Alene River running into Lake Coeur d’Alene at Harrison, it’s not surprising the little lakefront city is taking on water right now. Since the weekend, Harrison has had two landslides and deteriorating conditions on two streets from the ongoing precipitation and snow melt.

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from Competitive Enterprise Institute

Trump Must Avoid 'Read My Lips'-style Blunder on Carbon TaxIs the White House considering a carbon tax as part of comprehensive tax reform? The Climate Leadership Club's plan is equally unserious as economic policy. The CLC proposes to redistribute the carbon tax revenues, estimated at $300 billion annually, in equal shares to every “family of four.” How could that possibly strengthen the economy? If random redistribution of $300 billion from millions of Peters to millions of Pauls is an economy builder, then a “share the wealth” scheme that confiscates and redistributes all income should work even better.

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from The Heritage Foundation

[Information from this site may be unreliable.]

Where the Fight Against ISIS Stands, and How the US Can Win
The Trump administration has invited 68 countries and international organizations to attend a summit in Washington on Wednesday to coordinate policies to defeat the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will lead the two-day gathering of foreign ministers in synchronizing coalition efforts to destroy ISIS on the battlefield, prevent it from staging a comeback, and deprive it of money, arms, and recruits.

Judge Warns 9th Circuit’s Use of Trump Campaign Pledge ‘Judicial Psychoanalysis’
A federal judge is raising an alarm about “judicial psychoanalysis” resulting from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling on President Donald Trump’s executive order on “extreme vetting.” Last week, the 9th Circuit voted against rehearing the case that a three-judge panel had previously ruled on in affirming the federal district judge’s temporary restraining order on Trump’s first executive order on immigration restrictions. The panel in part applied the Trump campaign’s assertion for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” Applying campaign statements when interpreting law “sows chaos,” said Judge Alex Kozinski, who has been on the 9th Circuit since 1985, in his dissent.

Gorsuch Responds to Sexism Allegation From Former Student
During his Supreme Court confirmation hearing, Judge Neil Gorsuch addressed accusations from a former law student claiming he had encouraged sexist hiring practices in the classroom. Not a single student has corroborated Democratic operative Jennifer Sisk's version of events—but several students have challenged her assertion.

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from Indian Country Today Media Network
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Paying to Play Indian: The Dawes Rolls and the Legacy of $5 Indians
It may be fashionable to play Indian now, but it was also trendy 125 years ago when people paid $5 apiece for falsified documents declaring them Native on the Dawes Rolls. These so-called five-dollar Indians paid government agents under the table in order to reap the benefits that came with having Indian blood. Mainly white men with an appetite for land, five-dollar Indians paid to register on the Dawes Rolls, earning fraudulent enrollment in tribes along with benefits inherited by generations to come. “These were opportunistic white men who wanted access to land or food rations,” said Gregory Smithers, associate professor of history at Virginia Commonwealth University. “These were people who were more than happy to exploit the Dawes Commission—and government agents, for $5, were willing to turn a blind eye to the graft and corruption.”

ICWA: Goldwater Case Thrown Out of Federal Court
Decision is an ICWA victory for Native children and families
On March 16, the federal District Court for the District of Arizona dismissed A.D v. Washburn, a class action suit brought by the Goldwater Institute challenging the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). Filed in 2015, the suit alleged that Native children who are the subject of state custody proceedings are given “separate and unequal treatment” based on their race.

Spokane mayor declares flooding emergency, closes river
Spokane Mayor David Condon has declared an emergency, closing the Spokane River through the city of Spokane and authorized additional city resources to address localized flooding caused by rising river levels fueled by the wettest winter on record. The Spokane Parks Department has closed the suspension bridges over the river in the park because of safety concerns, and the Centennial Trail under Division Street and the Washington Street because of flooding.

THE LONG, WEIRD HISTORY OF COMPANIES THAT PUT YOUR LIFE ONLINE
People search sites are a perennially controversial feature of the web, from the venerable Whitepages.com to the reviled upstart FamilyTreeNow, which was publicized and widely condemned earlier this year. They’re the perfect example of how scale and searchability can change the meaning of data: the contents of thousands of phone books accessible from anywhere in the world, with an unprecedented level of detail. It makes their data more useful, and more dangerous, than ever before.

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from Yahoo News

Franken calls Gorsuch dissent in trucker case ‘absurd’
Minnesota Sen. Al Franken recalled his comedic past in a contentious exchange with Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch Tuesday during the judge’s confirmation hearing. Franken was questioning Gorsuch on the case of Alphonse Maddin, a trucker who was fired after his trailer broke down in subzero temperatures. Gorsuch concluded in a dissent that it wasn’t illegal for the company to fire Maddin for seeking safety, writing that “it might be fair to ask whether TransAm’s decision was a wise or kind one, but it’s not our job to answer questions like that. Our only task is to decide whether the decision was an illegal one.”